After
by expecto-patronads
Summary: Post-DH, drabbleset, new character each chapter. "The grown Weasley children returned to the remains of the Burrow, under the wing and watchful eye of the mother Weasley." Current: Molly Weasley


**After**

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"_molly stays at home and does her pretty face,_

_and in the evening she still sings with the band:_

'_ob-la-di, ob-la-da, _

_la-la, how the life goes on'."_

- The Beatles, 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da'

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Chapter One

After the war, Molly Weasley liked to keep her children where she knew they were safe. Logically, she knew for the most part they were; Voldemort was dead, with the majority of his Death Eaters sent to Azkaban, or in debt to Harry Potter (in the cases of Narcissa, who was not actually a Death Eater, and Draco Malfoy). Still, the defeating of Voldemort, while it had left the Weasley family slightly famous, if not at least recognizable, had also made them a target for the crazies.

Molly Weasley was not a big fan of crazy people, to say the least.

Losing one child was bad enough; having one permanently scarred and one previously estranged was even worse.

So it was left unspoken that after the Battle of Hogwarts, the grown Weasley children returned to the remains of the Burrow, under the wing and watchful eye of the mother Weasley, who did not let them out of her sight for longer than she could call their name. Harry Potter, needless to say, and Hermione Granger were honorary children of Mrs. Weasley, so she kept them just as closely guarded as if they were to have red hair and freckled faces.

The first few weeks after the battle were undoubtedly the worst. The entire family was recovering from their insurmountable loss; Fred, Remus, Tonks. Molly had watched over Teddy until Andromeda came around and insisted she take care of the infant, granting them all visiting rights, of course.

George seemed to take it the hardest, and in the immediate days after Hogwarts, he did not speak a word to anyone. There would be times where Molly Weasley would walk into a room and find Ginny, Hermione, or on the one rare occasion, even Fleur, hugging the abandoned twin. He did not seem to mind the attention at all; in fact, he seemed to like it as much as anyone could like anything, given the loss he had suffered. It reminded Molly often of the nights she would hold onto the twins, and the nights she thought of these memories, she often cried.

Arthur was supportive of her; he felt her loss too, but to no degree that she did. She did not underestimate how he hurt as well, but he couldn't understand what it was like to lose something – some_one_ – you had carried inside you for nine months. It was impossible.

And yet, despite their hurts and their wounds, they eventually healed. Their physical wounds mended themselves much quicker than their emotional ones, but needless to say the latter _did_ heal. There were scars, and those scars were unsightly and blunt, but eventually the sharp hurt of loss had dulled into a manageable, constant and dull ache. George eventually opened up again, he began to speak, and Molly Weasley would never forget the day – two months, three weeks and one day to the battle – that George Weasley laughed again.

Eventually, she let her children – her own and adopted – have their freedom again. Bill and Fleur went back to the cottage, Charlie left, and Percy went to work for the Ministry again (although this time, he made sure to visit his family quite a bit more). Arthur went back to work, Hermione left to find her parents in Australia (accompanied by Ron and Harry), and Ginny left to finish her seventh year at Hogwarts, which had just recovered from wounds of its own.

And there were nights when her children had dispersed that she would sit up by the fire, knitting by hand, with a small smile on her face. Regardless of loss, life went on.

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I wanted to do a series of drabbles after the war (with characters who weren't exactly considered _main_). Molly just seemed like a good person to start the story with. I don't own Harry Potter or it's related characters, nor do I own the song Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, which is by the Beatles. -R


End file.
